Showhat and Sowhat

by Taban Lo Liyong

This play explores the lives of two divergent the Showhats and the Sowhats. Showhat is a boisterous arrogant bully with little regard for the less privileged but philosophical Sowhat. Their worlds clash when Sowhat's daughter falls pregnant to Showhats son. Enraged, Sowhat attacks Showhat who retaliates leading to an arrest. In an odd judgement Showhat must move in with Mrs Sowhat and vice versa. Meanwhile, the children retreat peacefully to their the Sacred Grove. Taban exposes the complexity of the adult world and juxtaposes it with the simplicity and serenity that defines childhood. The play is a multifaceted parable that pours scorn on the consumerism of the rich in society without sparing the vanity of empty sloganeering of the philosophical poor.

84 pages, Paperback

First published December 29, 2007

About the author

Taban Lo Liyong (born 1939) is one of Africa's well-known poets and writers of fiction and literary criticism. His political views, as well as his on-going denigration of the post-colonial system of education in East Africa, have inspired criticism and controversy since the late 1960s.

(from Wikipedia)